Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria on Thursday vowed not to appear before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) panel investigating the violent clash between them and the Nigerian Army.

In a statement issued by their spokesman, Ibrahim Musa, and made available to Channels Television, the Shiites said the reason they will not appear before the panel was due to the fact that its impartiality has been compromised and therefore, will not be fair to them.

They also posited that the tenure of the commission’s governing council had expired as at the time of setting up of the Panel.

According to the statement, under the rules of the commission, the Executive Secretary of the commission lacks the constitutional powers to decide on petitions, cases and complaints of violations of human rights received from individuals or groups.

Though they had earlier agreed to appear before any panel set up by the Human Rights Commission, the Shiites claimed they were no longer comfortable with the methodology adopted by the commission in relation to the matter on ground.

According to the statement, a letter to that effect has already been sent to the Chairman, Panel of Investigation of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr Tony Ojukwu. (Channels TV)